Whose been bitten

in France a few years ago on a herping trip, a mate was bitten on the hand by V aspis (bite bit more toxic than berus).

we had been finding lots of Viperine Snakes (which were abundant) and the animal in question was partially hidden under tree roots. mistaken for yet another Natrix, it was grasped for a pic and defended itself effectively.

Result?
4 days in Perigeaux Hospital, many miles from our accomodation, which meant i had to drive the hire car uninsured to visit every day, antivenin was flown in from elsewhere in France (cost around 2 grand (!) - the tiny phial was kept and made a great souvenir!), we missed our flight home and had to phone our employer to awkwardly explain why we wouldnt be back at work on Monday after all!
other than the bedside visits, i was pretty much marooned in the digs watching a dvd box set of Worzel Gummidge for the duration. i didnt dare drive anywhere unnecessarily without insurance and we had herped all over the immediate locale already, exhausting anywhere worthwhile and within walking distance.

there was some localised swelling but for the most part his treatment was borne of precaution and observation. the hand was coated in some sticky white gunk or other.

its all fondly remembered as part of the adventure now and he had a whale of a time dans l'hopital admiring the sexy nurses!!

Ben

Hi Will,

you may well be right. cant recall where, but i definitely did read somewhere that aspis was slightly worse than berus.
however, that was a long time ago and it seems to me that opinions on venom/poison toxicity often change over time.

i CAN tell you that the antivenin covered both species - they were listed together on the label.
V ammodytes wasnt on it though - surprise surprise!
you wouldnt want a hit from 1 of them now would ya?

I was bitten by a smooth snake during handling training, but worst bites have been from shrews that the cat brings in to play with.  They are tiny little critters, but have a really painful bite (read somewhere that they are venemous)

Ha! Love that shot. Bleeding thumb with the rather guilty looking culprit sneaking off in the background...